1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to a device for cleaning a cylinder in a printing press, having a cleaner, in particular a cleaning roller engageable and disengageable with the cylinder, the cleaning roller being disposed in a housing formed with an opening.
Devices of this general type enable self-cleaning of the cleaner in the housing, which shortens the time for cleaning the cylinder. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the cleaning agent from evaporating into the print room, and the cleaner from drying out. In the case of a brush roller, the self-cleaning of the cleaner is performed by feeding a cleaning fluid or water to the brush roller within the housing which has been sealed off, and thereafter wiping or stripping away the cleaning fluid or the water together with the contaminants from the bristles with a doctor blade. The cleaner can also be cleaned by blown or blast air which blows the contaminants out.
The published European Patent Document EP 0 659 560 B1 contains a description of a cleaning device for cylinders of printing presses, a housing for the cleaning device having at least one additional movable housing part, which exposes the opening in the engaged position of the cleaning device and/or closes the opening in the disengaged position of the cleaning device.
Although this heretoforeknown device enables self-cleaning of the cleaner, it is of complicated construction and susceptible to failure. The movable housing part has to be guided in guides. The guides may become jammed due to an accumulation of printing ink residues, paper dust or the like. This problem exists, in particular, for very accurately produced guides which are simultaneously intended to have a sealing function. However, sealing measures separate from the guide and intended to seal off the parts also call for an increased production outlay or expense. The opening and closing of the opening via resilient springs is likewise unreliable and may lead, in the case of an incomplete opening, for example, to damage to the outer cylindrical or casing surface of the cylinder to be cleaned and to the cleaning device.
Starting from the prior art, it is an object of the invention to provide a cylinder-cleaning device which is of relatively simple and straightforward construction and which functions reliably.